A formidable impediment to the widespread use of nuclear power is concern over the safe disposal of nuclear waste products. While a great many proposals have been advanced for sealing these products in various glasses and other types of materials, many of these processes are expensive and do not utilize materials of great long-term stability and resistance to leaching by subsurface water.
A particularly desirable material for the storage of radioactive waste is .alpha.-alumina. This material is extremely stable and resistant to chemical attack and physical erosion. The difficulty in using it, however, is that it melts at a very high temperature and other materials have a low solubility in it. Radioactive materials cannot be easily processed at high temperatures because some of them can volatilize and may escape into the atmosphere unless great care is exercised.